The head of the International Monetary Fund has been found guilty of negligence but no penalty was meted out.
Christine Lagarde, 60, was judged guilty of negligence when, as France’s finance minister, she approved an enormous payout of taxpayer’s money to a controversial French businessman.
Lagarde has always argued she did nothing wrong and acted “in the public interest”.
The businessman Bernard Tapie held the majority share in the sportswear firm Adidas but sold this in 1993 to Crédit Lyonnais, a bank then owned in part by the French state. The bank later sold the shares at a higher price. Tapie, 72, accused the bank of defrauding him by undervaluing his shares.
Lagarde sent the case to a private arbitration panel which decided Tapie should be awarded €400 million. Lagarde authorised the payment.
She later came to be accused of “negligence with public money” for paying the sum and not contesting it.
Tapie has since been ordered to return the full amount, but has appealed that decision, so the case is still ongoing.
Investigators have been looking into the possibility that the money which had been given to Tapie during Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidency might have been a reward for his support of Sarkozy when he was running for that office.
The case was heard by a special tribunal which is called when ministers or public officials are alleged to have committed crimes while in office. Three judges and 12 politicians from France’s parliament sit in judgement.
The court found Lagarde guilty of negligence. It was in their power to impose a fine of €15,000 and up to one year in jail, but instead decided that there would be no punishment and that the conviction would not constitute a criminal record.
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